Australian ex-pat wins at Cannes

Australian-born director and Mexican citizen Michael Rowe has won the Camera d’Or at Cannes for his first feature, the U$0.6m Mexican ‘erotic drama’ Año Bisiesto (Leap Year).

“I want to thank the Mexican nation that created this story,” said Rowe, who received the award from the Jury President, fellow Mexican Gael Garcia Bernal.

Ballarat-born Rowe studied in Melbourne but moved to Mexico City 16 years ago. He graduated from Mexico’s top film school, Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica (CCC).

Año Bisiesto is the story of Laura, a young journalist from Oaxaca, living in a small apartment in Mexico City. Laura has casual sex to overcome her loneliness, but when she meets Arturo, they embark on an intense sexual relationship “in which pleasure, pain and love merge”.  It takes place in February on a leap year, as Laura crosses out the days in her calendar and her secret past resourfaces, pushing Arturo to the limit.